Improvement in construction of fire-proof houses



WILLIAM AUGUSTUS BERKEY, OF GRAND RAPIDS, MICHIGAN.

n Letters Patent No. 84,044, datedNo amber 10, 1868.

IMPOVEMENT IN CONSTRUCTION OF FIRE-PROOF HOUSES.

Tne Schedule referred to in the-se Letters Patent and making part of the same.

To all whom 'it 'may concern.:

Be it known that l', WILLLAM AUGUSTUS BERKEY, of Grand Rapids, Kent county, State ofMichigan, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in the and accompanying drawings are suiiiicient to enable any personv skilled in the art or science to which they most nearly appeitain to make and use my said improvements without further invention or experiment.

The object of my invention isto construct buildings, anduse wooden joists or scantlings' in their vconstruction, and render the buildings and their contents secure against lire, and against damage by water applied to extinguish the fire, and stop fire, water, or sound from passing or communicating through the oors either up or down.

The nature of my invention and improvement consists in protecting the iloor-joists, at the top or upper edge, from fire or water, or either, from passing down through; rst, by laying ldeatenhlg-oors between the joists near the top, and iillin g the spaceabove the floor with mortar or cement even with the top of the joists, then laying strips of wood on the mortar or cement, between and paiallel with the joists, and screwing them orfastening them to the deafening-Hoor, and filling the space between the strips of wood and over the josts with mortar or cement, and laying the door-boards on the mortar or cement and sti-ips, and fastening the boards to thestrips, leaving the mortar unbroken, so that no wood exposed to the fire can communicate tire to the joists, and in protecting the iioorljosts on the u nder edge from re, by fastening iron platcs or bars across them, and fastening the furring-strips to the under side of the iron, between the joists and ceiling or lathing, in to the furring, and applying a coat of mortar or cement above the ceiling or laths, (before the deafening-floor is laid,) to cover the furring and till the spaces between the joists and ceiling or laths with mortar or cement, before applying the plastering to the under side of the laths, if wood ceiling is not used, if preferred. If preferred, nails or irons may be driven into the joists, to aid in lholding the mortar to them.

And in protecting the j oists or trimmers around the stairways or other openings from tire, by metal plates Afastened to the joist or trimmers by brackets, so as to leave a spacel between the wood'and the plates, and in setting the partitions, to prevent cracking the mortar or cement above the ceiling or laths, so as to avoid any openings at the top of the lparti-tions for draught or air that would aid in communicating fire to the joist. To effect this, I fasten grooved or moitised strips under the ceiling or laths, to receive the upper ends of the boards or studs of the partition.

And in covering the beams which support the joists m buildings with sheet-iron fastened to the beam or joists, so as to leave a space of about half an inch be'- tween the iron and the beam.

In the accompanying drawingsV Figure 1 is the plan of the walls and 'iloor-joists of a building with my improvements.

Figure 2 is a section of fig. l on line z z.

Figure 3 shows a beam in section with joists, and the iron protection under the beam'.

In the drawings, A A are the walls ofthe building; B 'B, the oor-joists, resting on or inserted in the walls in the usual manner.

In applying my improvements, Itake hoop or other the ing, and for the nails to fasten it to the joist. I then nail the strip or cleats B' B on the side of the joists, then nail .the irons C across the under edges of the joists, and nail or screw the furrings D D to the under side of the iron, between the ioi'sts, and fasten the ceilings under the furring, if 'ceiling is used; but, if board ceiling is vnot used, laths,-E E, are madefast to the under side vof the furring, and plastered, as usual. In order to give better clinch tothe plastering,'nails or other irons, F F, are driven into the lower corner of the joists; and if there are stairways or other openings, G, to be left in the floor, I set iron plates, H H, around such openings, about one and a half inch' from the josts and trimmer I, and fasten them to the joists and trimmer by iron brackets, J J, as shown in the drawings. These iron plates H should be wide enough to extend from the bottom ofthe ceiling to the top of the door.

I now prepare some mortar or cement, so that it will run freely, and pour it on to the fnriing and ceil. ing or laths, so as t'o fill all the spaces between the ceiling or laths and the lower edges of the joists, and cover the top of the filming about half an inch deep, and fill all the crevicesiand interstices from wall' to wall, or from the wall to the iron plates H, lwith the mortar or cement, making an entire layer of Vfire-proof material, nearly or quite water and air-tight, which eiectually protects the under edges of the joists from fire.

When the laths are used, they should be plastered first on the underside, or some Yboards pressed up against them, to protect the morta-r ,from running through between the laths.

Inow lay the deafening-floor K, so that the top of .the door. will be about three-fourths of an inch below the top Yof the joists, and then ll the space on the floor between the joists with mortar or cement,poured onl thin, and scraped and spread evenV with the tops ofthe joists.

I now take some furring-strips, L L, two inches wide and about one and a half inch thick, more or less, and fasten them on the mortar, half way between and parallelwith the j oists, by screws or nails, so as to nail the oor to these strips L L-without breaking the mortar under them.

suitggll iron, C, and punch it for the'screws to hold v.

I now fill the spaces between the fm'ring-strips with mortar or cement, M M, so as to cover the joists, and also to ll the spaces between the iron plates H H and joists and triinrneisnp even with the top of the furring-strips L L, and scrape it ofi' even with the tops of the furring-strips L L, thus forming a complete layer or sheet -of mortar or cement above the deafening-floor and joists from wall to wall, except' the opening G, surrounded and protected by the iron plates, which layer of mortar or cementl is nearly or quite water and air-tight, a perfect protection for the tops of the joists` and deaiening-ioor from fire or water.

Thus, it is clearly apparent, from the foregoing, that th'e joists are perfectly protected by an entire sheet of mortar or cement above and below, so that no fire' can get to them, nor any water pass through th` iioors, to injure the contents or goods on the floors below.

`When the joists have been protected, asabove described, the floor may be laid and fastened to the furrngs'trips L L in the ordinary manner.

In iig. 3 of the drawings, -P is the vend of a beam,

' and Q Q the joists, 'supported by the beam.

R is a box or trough, of sheet-iron, with a ange, S, at one edge, to nail it to the underside of the joists, to hold 'it in place; or,'the.edge of the" sheet may be Leit vertical, and a piece of thick 1eat11er,-T, may be put behind the edgeand the beam, -and nails driven through the iron and leather into the beam to hol@v Ait on.

D with the joists B and lath E, for the purpose substantially as described.

2. The loor-stripsL, when attached to the deafen ing-,partition K, in the manner described, for allowing the mortar M to be interposed, in the manner and for the purpose substantially as described.

3. Thecombination of the construction for suspending the ceiling and the construction for sustaining the `io'or, as described, with the interposed mortar, for preventing the burning ofthe timbels in such construction, and the passing of water or sound, as set forth.

VILLIAM AUGUSTUS BERKEY.- Witnesses:

HENRY N. MYGATT, J. SNowDEN BELL. 

